TRANSLATION
OF THE FIRST THREE PAGES
Translation of the First Three Pages of Qassarikh-e
Malalay from Dari to English
Chapter One: Definition and Description of the
Project and the Book
Definition of the Book
This "qassarikh" is a collection of
short biographical sketches of students and employees of the first
modern high school for girls in Afghanistan. Located in Kabul it was
called Malalay High School. All the students who went to Malalay even
for one year, all the teachers, all the employees, all the rank and
file, boys and girls, men and women, dead or alive, from the first day
until its doors closed to female education in 1996, are taken into
consideration in this book. Those who are alive wrote themselves; for
the departed, a member of their families has written. The writings are
based on a common questionnaire and have been published in the book
verbatim. The writers have participated in this project on their own
accord and voluntarily authored their own stories. However, no one
knew who else had written and what else had been written.
To explain the book better, the word "qassarikh"
has been coined from two words of "qessa" (story) and "tarikh"
(history) to make it clear that this collection is not history because
it is written from memory and not from official documents, but it is
not a story or fable either; rather, it is the reality of our lives.
Section One: Why This Book?
1. Personally, I wanted to create the history of
my school with all the joys of my worry-free youth; this school that
housed our laughter-filled memories, and, molded our beings with the
Afghan learning and the perfume of eglantines.1 I wanted to
recall the beauty of every person of Malalay, from its loyal guards,
janitors and water bearers to its kind and learned teachers; from its
awe-inspiring and experienced administrators to its happy, bright and
non-antagonistic students. I wanted to rebuild Malalay in memory,
brick by brick, each one washed, cleansed and polished. I wanted to
leave for eternity of history Malalay's scented gardens, its innocent
young cheers and its lessons of promise and meaning. I wanted to
declare that for me Malalay has value, Malalay will never die, and I
am proud to be a daughter of Malalay. I hope that "Qassarikh"
will bring this souvenir of the mind to other friends of Malalay as
well.
2. I wanted to demonstrate that perhaps peace and
laughter are also contagious. Psychologists say war is contagious and
brings separation and alienation. I am not a psychologist and speak
only from observation that in the last 20 some years we have been in
so much mourning, of not only the loss of individuals but even the
trees of Afghanistan, that we have actually forgotten that that
ancient land of ours with its mature traditions and its proud ways
steeped in thousands of years of culture, was a poor country but had a
peaceful society. Intentionally, I wanted to force the writer to think
about laughter and happiness and therefore about peace and harmony and
remember Afghanistan in a positive and happy state. I wanted them to
especially forget for a brief moment all its suffering and errors. By
remembering the happy moments of Malalay, I wanted to wash out the
depression that I and others feel towards our cherished homeland and
our beloved people; and show that in my mind, Afghanistan has not
always been this land of sin and sorrow, but rather had corners such
as Malalay, full of wisdom and peace. I hope that by remembering the
happy moments of our youth in a school that was also young, a little
peace and harmony can take hold, at least, in our minds and we
remember that living in peace and reconciliation is also a legitimate
solution and a valid choice.
3. I wanted to trace what the Afghan woman did in
Malalay; how she created Malalay and Afghanistan, and how Malalay
created her. And perhaps this would help in the reestablishment of
Malalay again as a successful Afghan social institution. In addition,
I think that analysis of "Qassarikh" may result in the
development of a model of modernization which will demonstrate in a
practical manner the positive and negative qualities of such an
institution and thus serve as a road map for the rebuilding of other
institutions of Afghanistan. I hope that "Qassarikh"
presents the strongest data in this regard.
4. I wanted to see for myself, in some way, the
effect of modernization and modern education on the 20th century
Afghan society. For myself who until the age of 18 was an eyewitness
to this new education and then later in life was far from it and could
not absorb it through osmosis of living with it, the 20 years of war
has peaked my curiosity to know what stage of evolution this new
society had reached before the war? Can some things be learned better
by analyzing aspects of it? I know that political events and
personalities of this society have been somewhat studied. But I
personally am interested in sociological issues such as the effects
that schools, literacy and education have on creating and changing the
feelings, attitudes, interests and mentality and consequently on
decisions and actions of people. Questions such as what was the impact
of all these social institutions and education on the individuals who
were the results and products of all this modernization? Or, what was
the reaction of the traditional Afghan social institutions towards all
this modernization? Or, to what extent were the new education's aims
effective and developed the kind of Afghan that was the goal? Or,
today, how does this new education help Afghans in exile? All these
are fundamental, difficult, and to me, interesting questions. At the
same time, if we can find their answers through research and analysis,
I think the results will be very educational, useful and perhaps
surprising. I hope that "Qassarikh" has collected for the
first time such information and contains very reliable and valuable
data in this regard.
5. For the daughters of Malalay who are now
refugees, I wanted to create a document that would provide information
on their past, and in front of their children, show these mothers with
roots and weight. In Afghanistan these women devoted their lives to
their country and were important, respected, well-known contributing
members of their societies and communities. Unfortunately many of them
left Afghanistan on an emergency basis and therefore could not bring
any of their life's documents with them. Now that their children and
grandchildren are grown up and ask about the past identity and life,
there exists nothing that in the eyes of the progeny would give this
bygone existence, validation and authenticity. I hope that "Qassarikh"
can help in restoring and reiterating the dignity of the past identity
of these refugees. As far as I can tell this is the first project in
the history of refugees of the world that restores a refugee's
identity in such a manner. I am proud that it is my own Afghan people
who lead the way.
6. I wanted to create a primary source of
knowledge; I mean a first source of study and primary materials and
raw data of research, not aggregated information and final results of
analysis. Primary materials of Afghanistan in the last 20 years have
been either destroyed, or not written down, or often developed by
non-Afghans in non-Afghan languages. I wanted to create a primary
source of Afghanistan for Afghans by our own Afghans in the Dari-Persian
language.
Because a large part of the knowledge repository
of Afghanistan during this generation of war is lost, in a way, at
present, the collective knowledge of Afghanistan resides in the minds
of all Afghans who at the time of their exit from Afghanistan were at
an age that remember something. Assembling the information and
compiling collections of "Qassarikh" related to every square
foot of our homeland can serve as the foundation of basic knowledge in
the areas of society, economy, culture, arts, etc. of Afghanistan.
And, with the use of the fundamentals of scientific method, we can
validate this knowledge, analyze it, and based on it not only leave
the gift of the past to the future and evaluate our shortcomings in a
just and scientific manner. But we can also savor our beautiful and
unique qualities, and, verifiably and consciously without feelings of
superiority and exclusivity, be proud of them. I hope that "Qassarikh-e
Malalay" is a good beginning in this area as well. But for this
we must hurry and collect the information before it is forgotten.
7. At the same time, this compilation is the start
of a personal journey of self-discovery and self-knowledge. From the
very beginning of youth, for more than thirty years, I watched the
culture, arts, history and society of my fatherland from afar. But in
the mid century of life, I felt deep inside a yearning, present since
childhood, now beckoning me towards a real world. Alas that from that
world only its corpse remains and I must search through burnt
libraries, looted museums and schools without students for the
correct, authentic and pleasing roads and find myself. It is said that
the path to self and wisdom is always confusing, uncertain, scary and
unknown. I do not know the truth of this; come what may! But that day
in 1996 when I began the "Qassarikh" project so that Malalay
would once again with its past become the teacher of my today and
tomorrow, was for me a springtime full of cascades of eglantines in
bloom!2
1. The school had several gardens where in
springtime large eglantine bushes blossomed profusely and created a
lingering sweet scent and an awesome cascade of white roses.
2. Reference to the Dari saying "a year's
good tidings show in the bloom of its spring flowers".
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